Change
by JustMe12345
Summary: Change could never be good for her, could it? She seemed to be very sure, but with time she might learn that not everything is what it seems...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing, really… I'm poor!=( LOL

Casey's world was crumbling down. Of that much she was sure. But… what was she to do, anyway? It's not like she hadn't already tried to do everything in her power to keep it all upright. I mean, she had gone to lengths she would have never even dreamt about-like writing hot love letters to her mom signing her father's name- which, by the way took away like _all_ of her innocence and still wouldn't do the trick because, apparently, it's quite obvious when someone who just recently learned about the facts of life and has never actually experienced sex tries to write something sexy that they're not forty. The thing is, she tried everything and anything that came to mind and it still didn't seem to work.

Everyone seemed to have already accepted that her parents' relationship had been over for much too long, but she couldn't help but clinging to a dream where her sister (Lizzie), her parents and her were a happy family of four enjoying breakfast to a commercial theme song. It just wasn't realistic, she knew, but she just didn't feel like she was strong enough to accept this and move on. She couldn't see past herself and listen to the logical part of her brain-which was actually pretty big, mind you. You know that little voice inside your head that tells you that once you let that thing that terrifies you actually happen it will all be better in time? That people will actually be better off and happier and not more miserable like you think you will be? Well, she had that too. She was just too stubborn to give in and listen, even if it was indeed herself talking.

Thus, after having tried everything she could ever think of, she couldn't help but break down and cry for days on end after her parents told her they were getting a divorce. To her, it was just too much, too soon, but her mom told her in a while she would look back on those last months of her life and think it was actually long overdue. She told Casey things would be better off and that, at least for the time being, the three girls would get a condo in Toronto while her father would be moving to New York. Actually, come to think of it, _that_ was her breaking point. The 'not being able to see her dad' part. Sure, he worked like crazy and didn't spend all that much time home, but she actually loved him like crazy. She just idolized him, she guessed. I mean, he was her father, after all, and what little girl doesn't see her daddy as some sort of hero? At least, _she_ did, that's for sure. He was always the one that could fix anything, from a broken pipe to her broken pride whenever she fell down and he was there to put her back up again-which was actually more often than she'd ever care to admit, given she was a total klutz. She has to admit, though, that he lost almost every point he had ever gained with her just the moment he climbed onto that plane and left, without putting up a fight, and without being able to fix their family and her broken heart for good.

Oh, her world was crumbling down, alright, but, once she got used to it, she guessed it wasn't all that bad. Her mom and Lizzie had always been within the top three of her "My Favorite People in the World" list-she loved making those-and living with them was actually proving to be kind of fun. However, she had learned the hard way that good things don't last long, and she wasn't all that surprised when her mom announced that she was dating again. That much she did expect-her mom was really a gorgeous woman considering her age, after all.

At the time, 'another blow…' she thought, but she got used to it pretty quickly and just turned a blind eye when her mom came home late. This didn't last long either, though, for one day she just didn't come home at all. You know that gut feeling that tells you everything's about to change on the blink of an eye? Well, she was so used to it by now-and she was just 14-that it was actually sort of scary to feel it so real, because it meant this one change that was about to happen must really be strong. Nonetheless, nothing in the world could have prepared her for the news that came her way a couple of months after that fateful night.

Actually, come to think of it 'another blow…' just wasn't going to cut it this time. In her opinion, her mom had just gone too far this time… MARRIED? To a guy in LONDON? Three kids? THREE kids? 'Yeah, right…' she thought 'This has _got_ to be a nightmare, this definitely _cannot_ be real'. But her mom never said "Haha, April's fool!", or anything like it and, before she knew it, she was off in a car with her mom to meet the eldest kid who was going to show her around and make sure she was able to get adjusted to yet another new school, with yet more new friends in a city that felt years away from home. She was supposed to be grateful for this, though, because, according to her mother's words, if she felt like she could never in a million years adjust to this place, they would just up and leave and never come back, her mom remaining single. However, she knew as well as her mom did that she was a total people-pleaser and that she would never be able to look her mother in the face to tell her she didn't want her to marry and be happy. She just couldn't disappoint her so, and they both knew it. Thus, the three of them were as good as packed.

All in all, she knew she was screwed, but she also felt like things just couldn't get any worse. She thought 'Worst case scenario, this guy's a punk or a jerk or a total jackass and I just won't stand him, but I'll suck it up 'till college and just move out and go on living an organized life… preferably without an ounce of change in it…'

Boy was she ever wrong…

AN: So... what did you think? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated if you left a review, since it's my first ever story and English isn't even my first language... Also, if you have seen any mistakes and you decide to review, could you please let me know so I can fix them or at least not make them again or something? Thanks so much for taking the time to read this, I can't explain how much it means to me!=)


	2. Trip to London

AN: Okay, so the thing is I just couldn't resist posting this chapter already too, see what you guys think. That said, I wanna thank anyone who is taking time to read this or has even alerted it, you cannot imagine how much it means to me, and, most of all, the three people who reviewed the last chapter… I just don't have words! Thank you so much, and I hope you like this one too!=)

Disclaimer: is this really necessary again? I didn't own yesterday and I don't own it now…

'Stay calm and breathe, stay calm and breathe…' She decided that would be her mantra and she kept on repeating it in her head the whole ride over to London. At one point, she was so concentrated on not freaking out that her mom apparently talked to her and she didn't even register it.

"Casey", no answer.

"Casey!", still no answer. Her mom was actually starting to worry, but Casey still remained oblivious.

"CASEY!", she swears she still might not have heard her, were it not for the swerving of the car. _That_ might have definitely been what did the trick.

"MOM! Eyes on the road, please!", she said, a terrifying and pleading look on her face.

"I'm so sorry! I was just trying to get your attention! I've been calling your name for about a whole minute now and you still didn't answer…"

Her mom did seem flustered, and she guessed it wasn't her fault she wasn't feeling so good at that precise moment-although she secretly felt like it all actually _was_ her fault, recently-so she decided she would spare her.

"I'm sorry, mom, I'm just a little nervous and you scared me when the car swerved like that. It's just that you know I like to have things under control, and you haven't even been able to tell me what this guy looks like, let alone if he's even nice. I mean, is he so bad that you can't even tell me a single detail about him? It's just…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, there, Casey, honey… You're rambling again", she smiled, uncomfortably. And there we go, interruption number one. Her mom just didn't seem to even want to listen to her anymore. I mean, she did listen to the unimportant stuff, but anything to do with her impending marriage just seemed to be out of the available topic list automatically. Plus, she did know she rambled sometimes, but that was certainly no reason to just cut her off without consideration like that, "How about you meet him and you form your own opinion?" she continued, choosing to ignore her daughter's upset expression.

"Sure, why not?", she said-sarcastically, of course. She considered giving up-truth is she was already drenched-but she was Casey McDonald, after all, and when was she ever known to give up on fights? "But mom, even if you really did this just so I would form an opinion of my own, that would only explain the absence of personality traits being explained… what about the physical stuff? Can't I at least know what color his eyes or his hair are? I mean, I haven't even seen a photo of him yet, how am I even supposed to recognize him?" 'Ha! Let's see what she has to say to that!', she thought, thinking she had finally one-upped her mom.

"Casey, don't worry, I already told you _he_ would be the one to recognize and come up to _you_… After all, how many girls do you think go to public high schools in uniforms, honey?", she chuckled. And… there went her silent victory dance…

After that, it was all silence-uncomfortable on Casey's part-and a little bit of pouting, coupled with the great come-back of her mantra, of course.

She guessed she was relatively calm when she got out of that restraining car, and she couldn't help but thank God for the cool Canadian air that hit her just the moment she opened the door, but she also felt like it was the end of an era. She knew, deep down, that her liking this Derek guy was ultimately irrelevant. True, her mom _had_ promised it was all in her hands, but, come on… Delusional, much?

Anyway, she entered the school and she suddenly felt the overwhelming need for a paper-bag. It was so much bigger than her all-girls private school in Toronto, and there were people rushing to and from class everywhere. She felt _so_ disoriented. And, yet again, she felt like it was all just too much change for her. 'And the sucking up 'till college starts now…', she thought.

She was just looking around, when she realized she had shut her mom out again. This time what her mom used to gain her attention wasn't swerving a car, but shaking her shoulder-which was actually and improvement, she guessed.

"Casey, I'm going to head out, now, okay? I'm meeting George in half an hour and I think I'm already late. I'll pick you up later, okay?", she asked, and she actually seemed to be asking her daughter to be nice to the guy she hoped to make her step-son. That said, she gave Casey a kiss on the cheek and wished her luck-which she felt like she needed loads of, right now-and just left.

"Sure, mom, I'll be just fine here.", she said, and she bitterly thought to herself that whoever said she couldn't lie obviously had a lot to learn about her, because her mom seemed to leave that godforsaken place pretty reassured. Then again, maybe it was part of that whole I-only-see-what-I-want-to-see thing she had going on for those couple of months, who knew… Plus, she did seem to turn oblivious whenever that George guy's name was even mentioned, not to mention the times when she was actually about to see him or had any kind of interaction with him.

To her, it just made no sense. She couldn't help but feel that her mother was kind-of-sort-of cheating on her dad and the fact that she had never seen that stupid I'm-madly-in-love-with-you sort of smile on said mom's face when with her dad just added to her feeling of inadequacy. Plus, it wasn't like she had ever been in love in order to understand just _what_ exactly the reason for that smile or that attitude was, so she just couldn't understand a thing her mother did anymore, and seeing as she was supposed to be smart, this made her insecure about herself on _so_ many levels.

So, she was lost in her thoughts again, and that's when she noticed a guy coming her way and waving at her, and, although she didn't realize it right then, that's when the _real_ change in her life actually started.

AN: So… reviews? Thoughts? Anything you like or don't like? Thanks!


	3. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Derek was… not exactly what she had expected, if she was to be truthful. Not that she thought he wasn't nice enough or anything-she guessed he was just fine-but she just didn't get what all the mystery and the fuss had been about. I mean, this guy definitely had issues, she wasn't going to deny that, but she saw nothing in him that explained the way her mom had been acting, no reason for her being all squeamish about this. So far, the worst he had done was weirdly talk in the third person about himself and act like he forgot everything and needed to look at his hands a lot.

In all fairness, the truth was Casey had dared go as far as to hope that he would give her some good, earth-shattering reason that her mother would not be able to deny called for drastic measures and Casey, her sister and her not being able to move to London. What's more, she actually thought she might even be able to get something to report when he started asking her if she had a boyfriend, but before she could explore this theory further this really cute guy she had actually been secretly watching turned around and interrupted her.

At first, she thought-given the fact that he interrupted Derek rather rudely-he might have noticed her too and that he might have gotten jealous over the fact that it seemed like Derek was trying to hit on her. This could be possible; after all, mystery-man didn't know Derek was her potential stepbrother, so, as far as he was concerned, they were just a guy and a girl having lunch in a high-school cafeteria.

Her train of thought was, however, derailed the moment mystery-man opened his big, fat mouth.

"And I'm okay with that". That was the answer he gave her when she tried to be nice. "I'm sorry we haven't met…". That was what she had tried with a smile on her face.

Oh, it was on. Who the hell did this kid think he was? Ralph, that was the name he gave her. But how dare he be so rude to her? Just like that? He didn't even _know_ her! I mean, she knew she might not come across as the most interesting person in the planet, but come _on_! This kid hadn't even given her a chance! And, he was managing to even make her _swear_! Granted, this whole conversation with herself was happening in the privacy of her own brain, but still… She _never_ swore! Nor did she ever feel the need to!

So, it was in this state of trance and shock that she gracefully-at least, she hoped it had been so-took the money he offered and went buy herself something while indirectly telling him through Derek to get himself some manners.

The thing was, she really didn't get this guy. First, she saw him almost everywhere Derek took her on that tour-almost like he was following them-and then he suddenly became all rude and downright impossible to stand. She would have thought that a sweet and awkward kid like Derek would have had better taste in friends but it seemed like she had been wrong. Either that, or there wasn't such a variety of people in that high school, which, come to think of it, was perfectly possible. After all, she had no idea what was considered cool or lame in that place that, as far as she could see, was _so_ different from her own school.

On that note, Derek finished the tour and bid her goodbye, not before reminding her that they were both expected to attend a dinner with her mom and his dad that evening and giving her directions to the place just in case she didn't manage to catch her mom beforehand and she was forced to find her way from their hotel, for which she was grateful-because, let's face it, she fully expected it to happen.

If she was to be honest, she had no problem with London so far-overlooking the obvious exception of Ralph, of course-or even with Edwin and Marti (those were George's other two kids). Come to think of it, she didn't even have a problem per se with George himself, it was just the principle of the thing she couldn't get over. Even if-and that was some big if-she were to tell her mom she was completely okay with her resuming her love-life and marrying again, she still couldn't see why they were the ones expected to up and leave their lives and move to another city. After all, weren't the other four as much part of this transaction as her sister, her mother and her? Weren't they all supposed to have the same rights and obligation? Wasn't the 20th Century society above making the woman's job always seem less important than the man? Scratch that, the woman's life, even? What was her mother _on_, for Christ's sakes?

So, with all these useless questions in mind, she waited at the restaurant and was all-around shocked when Ralph showed up and sat at her table with that cocky smirk and acting like he owned the place. That's when he told her that he was nowhere near being Ralph, that he was actually Derek, and that the sweet guy who had showed her around the high school was the real Ralph, who was just a friend of his who he had paid in order to enlist his help in the prank.

Thus, no one could blame her for being outraged, to say the least. That's when she inadvertently came up with what she would be calling Derek for the next… who knows how many years.

"Der-_ek_! How _could_ you?" And… that smirk just grew. What was _wrong_ with this guy? I mean, she was giving him the full-on you-fooled-me-you-should-be-ashamed-of-yourself-and-feel-guilty glare and he still didn't even flinch. That glare worked on _anyone_! It was foolproof, it even worked on her mom however much she suspected she was being roped in by her again! How _dare_ he make it worthless just like that?

She was getting more ticked off by the second and he just seemed to enjoy himself more the more aggravated she looked, which in turn set her off even more. So, she decided to break the vicious circle and she agreed to his idea of splitting their parents up by telling them that they just couldn't _stand_ each other.

Come to think of it, nothing was further from the truth, since they couldn't stop fighting long enough to even be able to go through with said plan. So, just when she thought this crisis might be averted, she caught sight of the heartbroken expressions on her mom's and George's faces. What was their problem? Did they want to guilt her into retracting from everything she had just said?

'It's not gonna work, I'm strong. It's not gonna work, I'm strong.' That was the mantra she adopted for the occasion. 'It's not gonna… Oh, God… Poor mom… Casey, stop! You can do this!' She was deviating from the script, and that was just never good for her, that could only mean she was about to…

"George, will you marry my mom?" The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. And, before she knew what was happening, the engagement was back on.

Great, now she had _definitely_ gone and scored herself a new step-dad, a step-sister and two step-brothers in tow. Also, as if that wasn't enough, she found one of said step-brothers was a jackass-which, incidentally, didn't stop her from finding herself attracted to him.

Yeah, her life just _rocked_...

AN: So, this one's a bit longer… hope you liked it!=) By the way, I wanted to thank anyone who's still reading! Oh, and I would appreciate any thoughts you might have! Review?


	4. Space

Disclaimer: I own nothing!=)

She needed out of that house. She needed OUT of living with Derek. She just couldn't stand it anymore. The _nerve_!

And to think her mom wasn't doing anything about the pranking and the insufferable situation she was in… well, that just made it so much worse.

First, she had to deal with the fact that she had to share a room with Lizzie, which, let's face it, wasn't what she'd call an ideal situation. It wasn't that she didn't love her little sister, it was just that she was a fifteen year-old and she just needed some privacy.

Plus, she had the whole I-thought-my-stepbrother-was-cute-the-first-time-I-saw-him-and-the-fact-that-I-didn't-know-who-he-really-was-back-doesn't-make-up-for-it issue and the guilt and shame she felt about it to deal with.

It was the first day of school and Derek had hogged the shower, thus making her wear her hair tied up and unwashed. To say she hadn't started the day on the right foot was an understatement. Things didn't get better, though, because when she got to school she had to deal with the secretary. You might be picturing her as some nice old lady who's always there if you need anything and generally being sweet and giving passes out, you wouldn't be more wrong if you tried, though. She was a horrible ostrich-like-faced woman who was absolutely rude to her and just plain out told her without contemplations or attempts at softening the news that she was gonna have to share a locker like it or not. Also, how dare she make fun of her when she let it slip that she had expected some kind of sympathetical treatment for being new to the school? Didn't she know that being nice to people was good for a person? What kind of _place_ was that high school?

So, things were just not looking up for her at the moment. Actually, she was almost in full out freak mode when she met her first possible-potential-friend in London. Emily Davis, was her name and, apparently, she was also her neighbor. However, she had to admit, the way she found out they were neighbors… really not her cup of tea.

They were getting along nice enough. They actually started talking because Emily turned out to be her locker-mate and she had just told her about the fact that her school in Toronto was an all-girls academy.

"How could you stand a school without guys? Especially hotties like him… He must've gotten cuter over the summer…" Emily started. That's when she turned around and saw that she was referring to Derek, the guy who had, single-handedly and almost without any efforts, obtained the title of 'bane of my existence' in her Most Annoying People In My Life list. Plus, the fact that he _did_ actually look totally hot in that leather jacket and those jeans just didn't help at all.

As didn't the fact that he said "'Sup" to Emily and just ignored _her_! How _dare_ he ignore Casey McDonald? Who did he think he was? Okay, so according to Emily, apparently, he was king of the school, but come _on_! He had no need to rub it in and treat her like a disease! Emily actually looked like she couldn't believe her ears when she told her he was her new stepbrother! _And_, she was actually telling her she was lucky… If she only knew…

With all that was on her mind, it would seem that she would be dying to talk to the school guidance counselor. Come to think of it, deep down, she probably was, but she just couldn't bare the shame it would bring her if anyone knew about her unrequited and stupid crush on her annoying stepbrother. How would anyone react if she told them? They would flip, probably, so the best solution was, in her opinion, to just wait it out and hope that his disgusting habits and lifestyle would take care of it. She really wanted to believe that if she didn't mention it to anyone it would just gradually lose importance and disappear, eventually.

So, when time came to talk, she decided to beg off and tell this Paul Greeby (traumatized for your 'creepy' surname, much?) character that she was just fine and that the appointment her mom had asked for for her just wasn't necessary anymore. She just wanted to give out a cool front and get it all over with, but he just had to floor her with his "Look, you're here now, we could just chat for a few minutes…" and his hand gestures. Boy, how she hated when people tried to look nonchalant like that and pulled it off, it always worked on her!

That's how she found herself telling Paul about how this whole change situation was inconveniencing her to no end, to put it mildly, and how she didn't even have a room of her own. Actually, come to think of it, that meeting really _did_ help her a lot, because she came to realize that she needed her space and that, in her current situation, the only way she was going to get anything was by fighting Derek for what she was sure she deserved.

At first, the whole thing just got her a desk in the hallway, but the guilt treatment seemed to be kicking in with her mom because she got an "It can't hurt to discuss it" from her mom. Too bad it didn't last long and the next day they offered her the basement as her new room. The _basement_! Who did her mom think she was kidding? Casey just _refused_ to live in the basement, no matter what it cost her!

That's when Lizzie gave her the best idea she had had since she moved into that hellhole. "It's not what he wants…", Lizzie sing-sang. And, _bam_! The light bulb turned itself on in her head! All she needed to do was convince Derek that she actually wanted the basement so that he'd want to take it from right under her nose! It was basic reverse psychology! How had she not thought of that before? Plus, like she told Lizzie, "And I've got the upper hand because he thinks I'm too nice to be sneaky…". All in all, it was _on_.

To her not-so-obvious surprise, her carefully executed plan worked right on schedule, but he figured it out when she didn't fight him once he suggested it was him who should have the basement. How could she have forgotten to look defeated? That's when the 'rents figured out what was going on and told them they wouldn't get out of the basement until they decided who was sleeping there.

Before she even knew what was going on she found herself caving and repeating the whole restaurant-proposal-to-George fiasco all over again and offering to sleep down there herself just as long as her mom was happy. However, this time it didn't all turn out horribly. Her mom actually acknowledged Casey had made lots of sacrifices for her and told George _they_ would be the ones moving to the basement so that Casey would have their room.

Casey couldn't have been more happy with her first small victory in she didn't know how long until she worked out that she would be sleeping next door to Derek without adult supervision… So much for her victory dance…

A/N: So… what did you think? Thoughts? Review, 'mkay?=)


	5. Honesty or not?

A/N: Sorry for not having updated sooner but final exams were killer, and after them I just had to wait it out a couple of days because I just didn't have the energy to do anything! I'm so sorry if somebody was waiting for this because I know how _I_ get when I wait…=S Okay, so I think I'm taking it too slow and maybe I should spin it off soon… I thought, maybe, after the whole Sam ordeal would be a good place to start, but I would appreciate your thoughts on this one because, truth be said, I'm kinda lost… Anyways, on with it!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, really, though I wish I did…lol.

Klutzilla. Klutzilla. _Klutzilla_! How dare he call her that? Okay, so maybe she did find his friend Sam cute and all, but come _on_! That wasn't even the reason why she was tripping over her own feet so much in the first place. Oh, and in case someone was wondering, it wasn't because she was such a big klutz either. The truth was… well, she really didn't want to admit the truth, even to herself. What was she supposed to do, tell everyone and their brother that the unrequited, stupid, childish crush she had on her stepbrother just wasn't going away like she had hoped it would? What was she supposed to do, huh? She didn't know how to handle herself in these kinds of situations; she had never even liked a guy before!

Truth be told, she had always hoped that the first guy she would like would be the prototype male lead on a romance novel; all chivalrous and incredibly kind and sensitive, not to mention totally cute and into her. She couldn't, for the life of her, figure out why it was that she had found herself liking her stepbrother, who was anything but everything she had always expected the ideal guy to be. He was a total pig who even called her names, for crying out loud!

Plus, it's not like he had shown any consideration for her after the party incident. Oh, the party incident… how she wished she hadn't let him get to her with his cheap words… Come to think of it, she didn't really understand why, even after he had told her it had all been a lie and he had told her all those things so she would take pity on him and save him from being in too much trouble, she still felt like every word he had let slip to her that night was true. It was just insane, and she knew it, but she couldn't quite help it.

And, okay, not that she was trying to redeem him or anything, but he had looked out for her after the whole Klutzilla incident… I mean, although he _had_ been the one to start it in the first place, he had stopped Emily from deserting her in her hour of need (they still both thought she was clueless about this little fact, but they should give her more credit than that), told everyone they were stepsiblings (or put Cory Plunkett up to it, at least), and made his oh-so-cute friend Sam save her from further humiliating herself by reading the speech she had written about teasing out loud in front of the entire student body.

So, all in all, I guess you _can't_ really blame her for believing him. He had brought that onto himself.

See, the thing was, when she lived in Toronto with her mother and sister, her and Lizzie could be left alone, no problem; Casey was okay to be trusted. But, now that their parents-oh, how she hated that they had to be considered to have the same set of those-would have to be leaving both her and _Derek_ in charge… well, her mother could not find a babysitter that would look after the five of them fast enough. And, come to think of it, it was totally understandable. The thing was, she _was _a teenager after all, and it was just against her very nature to accept the fact that she should have someone _babysit_ her lying down. So, she did what she thought was right.

"Mrs. Higgingbothom?" she asked, shock and disgust written all over her face, "Mom, I'm fifteen, I've been babysitting since I was twelve" she went on, complaining, seeing if the reassurance and guilt card would work on her mom "you can trust _me_!"

And, cue Derek ruining her speech, "You can trust _us_!" he said, resting his arm around her shoulders as though it was no big deal and handing her the remote. She tried to ignore the tingling sensation his arm left her with, which lingered long after they had both left the living room, but the fact that she couldn't control her reactions to him just left her feeling all the more helpless.

So, in the end, they decided to fake a truce which ended up getting them what they wanted, although the fact that their parents weren't fooled at all should probably be noted. That's why, after they consciously decided to still trust them and leave them home by themselves-taking Marti with them so Derek and her wouldn't have too much to handle-she couldn't grasp why he would be so willing to throw it all away by throwing a party. A _party_! Like they didn't have enough to worry about…

Oh, just so it wouldn't all be boring and stuff, they _had_ to get stuck in the bathroom together! While there was this _really_ cute guy downstairs who could maybe help her forget her stupid infatuation with her stepbrother… Really, the universe must hate her, or something.

Being confined with him in such a small space was just getting her totally stressed so, she reasons she can't really be blamed for starting the toothpaste-versus-shampoo fight she started. I mean, Edwin and Lizzie were their only tickets out of there and, scared of the rager taking place downstairs, they had retreated into the attic to hide for the night until everyone left of it all settled down, so that just wasn't comforting her at all. And then Derek just went and refused to call the 'rents for help and dared to even _turn off_ the mobile phone they were given in case of emergencies! The nerve! And he even dared to tell her to calm down! To calm down! "CALM DOWN? I hate it when people tell me to calm down! It makes me very tense" she growled, and the fighting started.

Once they were both soaked in what the other aimed at them and the bathroom was more or less wrecked they finally stopped, and _that_'s where the scary part started. They started what actually sounded like an honest conversation to her ears, and she really couldn't believe it while it was happening.

"It's official, you've driven me crazy…" she stated while giggling like she were stupid, although, of course, he had _no_ idea whatsoever how true that statement really was.

"Yeah, well, it wasn't a far drive" he retorted, smirking his signature-smirk and making her laugh, to which he teased her a bit by continuing with an "I can't believe you just laughed at that, I heard that one from Edwin…" That's when his face turned serious, he looked at his hands and went "I guess I have driven you crazy… sorry…" with what seemed like actual feeling to her.

"Wait, did you just say… sorry?" she was so astounded… she couldn't even believe how cute he was while sitting there all nervous-looking…

"No, why would I?" he went, and her face fell and she retorted with a simple "No reason…" muttered under her breath she wasn't even sure she had wanted him to hear.

"And I promised my mom everything would be fine… She's gonna be so disappointed in me…" she couldn't help but let out, with a feeling of dread in the pitch of her stomach.

"Yeah, I promised my Dad too…" he retorted, looking at the opposite wall and, looking as though he wanted the Earth to open up and swallow him whole, he continued "I guess I'm living down to expectations…". And she totally knew the feeling.

"But maybe it will be okay… it's not like it's _total_ chaos…" she said, trying to cheer him up just as much as she was trying to believe in her words herself, when screams were heard coming from beneath them.

They looked at the door, alarmed looks on their faces, and he chose that moment to break the silence "Probably shouldn't have thrown a party the first time our parents went away for the weekend…"

"Then why did you?" she couldn't help but ask, with the tiniest hint of accusation and disappointment in her voice. Not that she would've ever admitted that she expected anything more from him, mind you…

"I don't know! It's… it's like people expect me to mess up, so… I do" he sighed, "But… don't worry, I'm sure they'll just blame me… you'll be fine…". And he looked so vulnerable, so tired of having everyone instantly assume the worst in him at that moment… she just couldn't help herself and she fell for it. She fell _hard_. No questions asked.

That's why her answer was meant to cheer him up "Thanks, but it was actually kind of fun… before it went nuts…" and she smiled shyly at him, at which point he seemed to get nervous and he noticed the quietness.

"Why is it all quiet downstairs? You don't think the police came and cleared out the place, do you?" he asked, probably not really wanting to know her honest answer.

Which is why she went with an ambiguous "Better them than our parents…". This, incidentally, was uttered just before said individuals busted through the door.

And so, even though she curses herself for being so stupid as to tell her mother she should be blamed as well for the whole thing and for, as Derek himself put it, "buying his sob-story", she still thinks that, if everything happened all over again she would still do the same thing. Because, as far as she was concerned, you just couldn't fake what he conveyed to her on that bathroom floor.

However, that wasn't to say she didn't have a backbone and, after cleaning up the whole mess in the living room by herself, she couldn't have been expected to do anything other than dump everything on him while he was peacefully reading a magazine sprawled out on his bed. Life may be a bitch to her, but it didn't have to go _all_ soft on him either…

A/N 2: Okay, so I haven't written in a long, long time, so… any thoughts? Anything you feel like I should change? Let me know, I'd appreciate it!


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